Champagne isn't the only drink to hoist on New Year's Eve. These 6 beers are bubbly, bracing, and festive enough to replace the old standby

Turn tradition on its side by ringing in the New Year with pours of stellar beers. The right beer can rival Champagne and other sparkling wines as merry makers with plenty of fizzy carbonation and alluring dryness. One style—bière de champagne, otherwise known as bière brut—is finished using the same rigorous methods as traditional Champagne. And some of these festive beers even come in 750-milliliter bottles, complete with corks and cages. So bust out some Champagne flutes, pop the cork, and let the ball drop.

DeuS Brut des Flandres

DeuS, the best-known bière de champagne, once inspired the great beer writer Michael Jackson to wax poetic, especially about the foamy head, which he deemed “mousse.” After being brewed and fermented in Belgium, the beer is transported to Reims in the Champagne region of France, where it is re-fermented in the bottle before going through the remuage process and eventual dégorgement, the traditional method of removing lees from Champagne. In the end, the DueS comes out spicy and earthy with hints of lemon, and has a barrage of carbonation and a perfectly dry finish.

http://enlightenmentales.wordpress.com/

Enlightenment Brut

Brewed in Massachusetts with Belgium and France as inspiration, this golden strong ale goes through the traditional méthode champenoise, just like the DeuS. A rare U.S.-made bière de champagne, Enlightenment bristles with bubbles but still feels creamy, with hints of grass and citrus.

Allagash Brewing Company

Allagash Victoria Ale

If you just can’t fathom bubbles sans grapes, the Victoria Ale is hybrid that’s calling your name. The limited-release beer from Portland, Maine’s Allagash Brewing Company was made with crushed Chardonnay grapes, which produces a pale beer with notes of Belgian yeasts and hints of grape and pear.

www.jonsutvalgte.no

Malheur Brut Reserve

Belgian brewed and finished using traditional Champagne methods, this beer pairs pleasant hints of cracker-y malt with plenty of bubbles and a bit of creamy vanilla. Finishes lip-smackingly dry.

belgianexperts.com

Oud Beersel Bzart Lambiek

A fairly new import from Belgian beer gurus Vanburg & DeWulf, this traditional lambic will please funk lovers with its earthiness, but without sacrificing any of the bright bubbliness that qualifies it for New Year’s celebrations. The beer is made using méthode champenoise, which helps create an assault of fine bubbles, a sharp tartness based in green apple and lemon, and a bone-dry finish.

Miller High Life

Yeah, we know. No cork, no cage and no Champagne finishing techniques. But this good old American lager has been calling itself “the Champagne of beers” for a long time, and who knows? It might taste stellar in a coupe glass.